Album: Love This Giant (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the opening track and lead single from Love This Giant, a collaboration album between former Talking Heads leader David Byrne and New York singer-songwriter-guitarist Annie Clark, who records under the name of St. Vincent. The record was recorded in Hoboken, N.J. over a two-year period and features 10 songs co-written by the two musicians, with each one fully penning one additional track. The duo had previously played together on 2009's Dark Was The Night benefit compilation and Byrne's Here Lies Love project the following year.
  • Clark said regarding Love This Giant: "We started our collaboration around the fall of 2009 after being approached by [New York charity] Housing Works to write and perform a night of new music for charity. We decided to centre the music around a brass band and began sending ideas back and forth in every form: wordless melodies, melody-less songs. After a while we had enough of a body of work that David, not one to do anything by half, suggested we record it and put it out. I am very proud of what we created and excited for it to hit your ears."

    Byrne added: "A lot of people, hearing a description of this project, assumed that it might be an artsy indulgence, but somehow it didn't turn out that way. It's a pop record - well, in my book anyway. I started to sense that we were ending up with a sound and approach I'd never heard before. There were elements that were reminiscent of things I'd heard, but a lot of it was completely new."
  • Danish director Martin de Thurah helmed the song's noirish black-and-white video. We see Byrne and Clark dancing in the road after a car accident.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Sarah Brightman

Sarah BrightmanSongwriter Interviews

One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.